Aftermath
by Kiljukyo
Summary: 20 years after X.A.N.A. invaded and decimated Earth, a band of freedom fighters are fighting to hold the city that was rumored to have contained the invasion point.
1. Something wicked this way comes

It's 2026, twenty years after X.A.N.A.'s forces invaded. When they came, the world, rather than unite, crumbled. Militaries were slow to react, and couldn't stand up to high-powered lasers. Soon, all of Europe had been consumed. Out of desperation, America, Russia, and China decided on the use of nuclear weapons. However, by some horrible trick of X.A.N.A., they were turned on their own cities.

I write this as a freedom fighter now operating in what was once France. Our world deserves better keepers. A machine sees no beauty.


	2. A Call to Arms

As the roach rounded the corner, Echion grabbed it and simultaneously drew his combat knife. Metal flashed, and the blade ripped apart its CPU. He dropped it with a clang.

By instinct he swung side-ways, narrowly avoiding a possibly lethal laser, and was showered with debris. A crab had loped up onto the pockmarked sidewalk and spotted him. Snapping on his thermal goggles, he gave out a sharp whistle. From a foxhole to his left flew a small object, landing under his aggressor. With a bang a huge plume of smoke had consumed it.

Through the smog he saw its leg, a glowing red through the goggles. Rushing forward he ripped through the connector cable, causing the crab to do an awkward sort of bow. Taking his chance, he leapt on and carved out a hole in its top. Feeling like some sort of deranged butcher, he began hacking and slashing wires until simply collapsed.

"All clear!" he yelled; A few seconds later his fellow guerrillas clambered out of their foxhole. Jack and Argos were supporting Ichi, who was sporting a laser burn on his left leg. "We gotta… go!" Ichi gasped out. They retreated.

_No one knew where they came from, these unfeeling metallic warriors. They lacked souls, not to mention mercy. Whole cities were decimated by X.A.N.A.'s(as Thaddeus calls their "leader) army in days, and they were unceasing. After the world's general collapse, pockets of resistance sprang up around the world, made up of those who fled, those who were well armed, and those who were lucky. I was the latter._

Sitting in one of the only intact rooms in the bombed out apartment building, they nursed their wounds. Off in the distance sporadic gun-fire and occasional roar of a machine-gun was heard.

They braced themselves as a blast shook the building; most likely a poorly aimed mortar. Scorch marks scarred the walls from stray hornets, and the walls were full of holes and cracks from more unpleasant things.

Echion idlely kicked a creeper skull; it had made the mistake of poking its head head through a hole in the wall while he was cleaning his Kvant Garde pistol. He looked around. Jack was fixing up Ichi and Argos was looking out on the city through a missing portion of wall.

"Hey Echion, come here!" Argos called, waving him over. "What is it?" Echion asked. "Look!" he answered, pointing. Looking through the old Chinese recon binoculars, he looked in that direction. "Shit, a Mech," he said loudly.


	3. On Wings of Blood

Zooming the binoculars, he looked. It sat on reverse-joint legs, with a streamlined torso for the main body. On the front was one glowing red eye, with the X.A.N.A. marking coming off of it. On its underside sat two heavy laser cannons, but the mech's nastiest surprise was the rocket launcher locked on its sides.

"Crap, there's guys down there, we gotta help!" Echion shouted. Strapping on their AK-47's they rushed out. As they turned a street corner their eyes met hell. Three men were hiding behind various debris and rubble, taking occasional shots. Sprinting forward, Echion looked for cover.

Before he could find any though, a rocket slammed into a wall behind him and he was thrown into a ditch. A high-pitched whining filled his ears and everything blurred.

Steel. The mech's leg was coming down on him, and everything snapped into focus. Rolling sideways, he sat up.

Without thought Echion latched onto the thing that had nearly killed him and tried to struggle his way up. Each lurching step jarred his aching body, so much pain, but he had to…

Farther up still more. Weakly, he wrested a grenade from his belt. Almost… Echion clamped down on the pin and pulled it out, then just barely pushed into the rocket launcher tube. His hands released their death-grip.

With a thump he hit asphalt, and broken fiberglass bit into him. His body hurt all over, he was exhausted. Echion gazed upwards. Past the stumbling mech in its death throes, he saw the sky. It was a light blue, and a single bird cruised over, vanishing behind a cloud.

Even as rivulets of blood fell down his body, he formed a weak smile. This was what he was fighting for, the sky, the clouds, the Earth, freedom. This single thought consumed his mind.


End file.
